According to the council, this flaw allows attackers to gain access to sensitive personal data, including photos, messages and account authentication tokens.
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According to the council, this flaw allows attackers to gain access to sensitive personal data, including photos, messages and account authentication tokens.
The UAE Cybersecurity Council has issued an urgent warning about a sophisticated zero‑day vulnerability in WhatsApp that enables hackers to compromise smartphones simply by placing a call from an unfamiliar number — even if the user does not answer.
According to the council, this flaw allows attackers to gain access to sensitive personal data, including photos, messages and account authentication tokens. The attack exploits a previously unknown weakness in WhatsApp’s call processing, meaning developers had no prior patch available when the threat emerged.
To help users protect themselves, the council recommends these key actions: block unknown incoming calls, enable two‑step verification on WhatsApp, keep the app updated at all times, avoid clicking suspicious links, install trusted security applications, and verify information from official sources only.
The agency emphasises that users in government and critical‐sector roles should especially steer clear of using personal devices for highly sensitive communications, and should ensure security settings are aligned with best‑practice policies.
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